1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip structure and corresponding method for fastening closed previously opened snack food bags and the like. More particularly, it is concerned with a closure clip having at least three elongated, juxtaposed, spaced apart members interconnected at a common end and designed for use in a simple operation to wrap the opened end of a snack food bag or the like into a tight, secured coil that will not unravel during storage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Snack foods purchased from retail stores are typically sealed in airtight bags to preserve the food in a fresh condition. Once the bag is opened, however, the bag cannot be resealed by merely rolling up the open end of the bag, since the bag will not remain in a coiled form without an appropriate fastener. It is not entirely practical to close a snack food bag with a conventional wire tie fastener, since the stiff construction of typical snack food bags make it difficult to gather the opened end of the bag into a narrow funiculus-like closure that is nearly airtight. Moreover, wire tires become brittle and break after repeated flexing. In any event, the use of a standard wire tie to fasten close a snack food bag will often damage the fragile contents of the bag, is unsightly, and results in the bag being formed in a shape difficult to store. Without an airtight or nearly airtight seal, the contents of a bag will become soggy, stale and unpleasing to the palate and will often lose some of its nutritional value.
A closure attachment for the depending spout of a flexible hopper bag is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,533. The closure attachment, however, is unsuitable for the closing of a snack food bag or the like because, among other reasons, the three elongated members of the closure attachment are of equal or nearly equal length. A number of clips have been proposed in the past for purposes other than sealing closed a bag. None of these clips, however, are suitable for the closing of a snack food bag or the like. Patents illustrating these prior clips include U.S. Pat. Nos. 51,186; 416,588; 2,590,166; 2,927,359; 3,568,687; D-144,079; D-159,576; D-194,785; D-228,520; and D-245,748.